Confession: I spent the first 11 minutes of tonight's third and final presidential debate trying to determine the color of the stripes in Governor Romney's red tie and the meaning thereby implied. At first I thought they were blue, perhaps in a sartorial effort to show bipartisanship. But then they started to look more silvery, as in a second-place medal? Finally, they melded into a light purplish color that made me hearken back to my primary-color-wheel days of yore. Part of it was probably due to my super old television set (the only thing hi-def in my house is the level of hearing loss I've sustained thanks to my children only having two volumes: screeching and sleeping), but part of my distraction was probably due to being completely unable to figure out what exactly was being discussed tonight — a problem the candidates themselves also seemed to have.

"I feel like we went to a foreign policy debate and a domestic fight broke out," observed one CBS commentator.

Tonight's debate was ostensibly about foreign policy — and passing nods were given to Syria, Iran, Israel, Iran, Pakistan, Iran, China, Iran, Afghanistan, and Russia — but the candidates kept bringing it back to domestic issues, most notably the economy. There was one great moment where they were arguing over who loves American cars more, and I was so waiting for someone to drive a Chevy onto the stage to prove it right then and there. But the highlight of the evening for me was when they started talking about education reform and, being a veteran teacher myself, I got so excited that it didn't even occur to me this wasn't a foreign policy issue until the moderator pointed it out. Ah well, it was about time they got to education!

In addition to learning that I need to watch more TV (when did President Obama's hair get so gray?), I learned that I when I do watch TV, it's the wrong kind. First, I kept wanting to call the candidates "contestants" as if this were the biggest reality show ever (and perhaps it kind of is?), but also because I realized how dumb I've gotten. While I can tell you exactly which baby animal was rescued on the latest episode of Go, Diego! Go!, Wonder Pets!, or Little Einsteins, when Governor Romney mentioned the U.S. pulling a missile defense system out of Poland, I had to elbow my husband and yell, "Wait, what??"

"You really don't know?" he replied.

"Yes, I'm dumb," I answered in a totally non-combative way.

"Well, President Bush promised Poland we'd put a nuclear defense shield between them and Russia, but then President Obama cancelled the deal but only told Russia. So then when Lech Walesa found out (from Angela Merkel on the playground?) he refused to meet with President Obama and..."

"Wait," I interrupted. "Who's Lech Walesa?"

My husband looked incredulous. "Former president of Poland? Won the Nobel Peace Prize?"

"Like President Obama!" I exclaimed. "So what you're telling me is that two Nobel Peace Prize winners are refusing to talk to each other?" As a mom who currently had two out of my four kids sitting in time out for being, um, not peaceful, that is one of the best things I've ever heard. (And yes, I've resolved to try to actually listen to NPR when I have it on.)

Finally, it was time for the closing arguments; one last time for the candidates to plead their case to the American people. Both looked into the camera very seriously and confidently and hit all their talking points. But then, my 10-year-old son leaned over and whispered to me, "Mom, can I ask you a question? Why doesn't Romney have earlobes?" He was totally right. While Obama's ears have a typical earlobe, Romney's are attached all the way down his skull.

"I don't know if I could vote for a guy with no earlobes," he added. "It's okay," I whispered back. "His tie has purple-y stripes and everyone knows that red and blue make purple." He gave me a relieved smile. Who knows if Iran will get a nuclear weapon or if China will stop cheating their currency or if Pakistan will blow the whole lot of us sky high? If red plus blue still equals purple, all is right with the world. Takes after his mom, he does.

What did you think of the last debate? Did it answer your questions, or are you still undecided? Anyone else get distracted by little things like ties, flag pins, and earlobes?